Shadow of Dusk, Light of Dawn
by SS-60 SiX
Summary: A corrupt government organization hired a man with an odd ability. Stealing villages. Now Konoha's gone, and the only people left to save the leaf village are four leaf nin, a squad of renegade ninja with a bad history and two odd partners. OC's NaruHina
1. Beginnings

First Sequence Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all characters, names and terms belong to their respective owners.

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Okay, there used to be a little snippet of poetry at the start of this story, but it lost me tinned of readers so I cut it. Anyways, this is my first fic that I've become dead serious about it, and even if I get down to one reader, I'm still going to finish it. I'd also like to point out that early on there is alot of plot material, so if you hate stories with meat on em, and just want blood and gore, you might want a different story. There'll be alot of action, just good plot as well. Oh, by the way, first two chappies are just over half the size of the others, and are of lower quality writing than the rest, so if you do decide to read, at least read up to chappie four before you decide that you judge it. Anyways, enjoy the story.

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Deep in the lush green forests of the Land of Fire, three figures stood in a dark clearing, shadows masking their bodies."Naruto Uzumaki. Jinchuriki of the nine tailed fox. Genin of Konohagakure." One of the figures said, holding up a crumpled piece of paper. "Hinata Hyuuga. Heir to the Hyuuga clan. Genin of Konohagakure. All of these others have no endearing qualities that would make them exceptional choices.""Except for her." One of the other members, a female, said intrigued, referring to the last name on the list."She's only a back up plan, you better hope to god it doesn't come to that." The third member, the largest of the group, said in a deep voice."You do realize, even with these others, the chance of succeeding are quite slim. Chances are we will have to use her." The female pointed out to the first figure."Do you have a better idea?" He replied, frustrated. "We don't have a choice, we never did." His voice dropped again. "We'll gather these leaf ninja, We won't worry about the girl unless we have no other choice."The other two nodded. "Let's get moving. Pray that Dusk doesn't know our plan yet."

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Naruto breathed in the fresh air and smiled happily. For the first time in four weeks he had been given a mission. It may just have been a delivery, but nonetheless it was still a chance to escape the village.He walked ahead of his group, proudly marching. Behind him, Hinata, Shikamaru and Sakura walked sluggishly, exhausted from the heat."Naruto, can we take a break? Or at least slow down?" Sakura whined."Do we have to? We haven't even been walking for two hours!" Naruto replied.

"Its like, 40 degrees out here!" She yelled, giving naruto a confused look. "How the he'll can you be so enthusiastic!"

"Give up Sakura, he's not listening." Shikamaru droned, referring to the fact that Naruto was happily humming a tune, not hearing a word that Sakura said.Sakura's eye twitched, and she smacked Naruto in the back of his head. He sat up, rubbing his head and pouting. Hinata giggled slightly, he looked like a puppy."What the he'll was that for!" He yelled angrily at Sakura."Great! You've lost your enthusiasm! Can we stop now?" Sakura asked, puttin on her best puppy dog eyes and blinking at him."Fine. We can stop for a bit." He muttered, defeated.Sakura sat down, pulled off her shoes and sighed in relief."Man, I haven't been on a mission in so long, I'm so unfit." She said, stretching back."Why did she send four of us on a C-grade mission?" Naruto asked, hanging upside down from a nearby tree."M-maybe she doesn't think we've been on many missions often." Hinata suggested shyly.Call me paranoid, but I reckon there's something amiss here." Shikamaru said, frowning."What makes you think that?" Sakura said, rolling over on her elbow."Let's see. We are all from three different squads, we have an extra person, just for a delivery mission, and we don't have a Jounin with us." He stated systematically."How long has in been since you guys have been on a mission?" Naruto asked, stil hanging from his tree."Three weeks." Replied Sakura."Four." Answered Shikamaru."Three and a half." Said Hinata."Well, obviously Grandma Tsunade just thought we all needed some excercise." The blonde said, dropping down from his perch. "Come on, let's get moving.""I forgot you were the leader." Sakura said, slipping on her shoes. "Why the hell did Tsunade even put you in charge, dobe?" She asked, standing and stretching.."She probably finally realized what an awesome ninja I am." Naruto said, beaming proudly."Or she knew you'd whinge like a little bitch if you weren't leader." Shikamaru chimed in."Oh, shut up, you lazy bastard." Naruto said grumpily. "Just cause you got a stick up your-" He stopped.Someone was watching them.They could tell. The birds had stopped chirping, the trees seemed to cease rustling, and silence descended over the group.Everyone looked at each other, not moving a muscle. They reached for their kunai, slowly moving into a back to back formation. They could feel them. Whoever they were, they were about to attack.

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Tsunade stared down, boring holes into her desk. What had she just done? She kept on reading over the document, not believing her eyes.She was looking at the mission documents, to which she had just applied for Naruto, Hinata, Sakura and Shikamaru. It was an S-rank mission. And it was for Tsunade.The statement held the the mark of a unique group of elite ninja, one which she had only heard of. This group, and it's leader, held the power to overrule any decision made by any person of authority.This mark had told her to send three genin and a chunin on a suicide mission, under the guise that it was a 'delivery mission'. It stated that they would not return from this mission for a while, if at all.Tsunade just gazed at the mission paper, her heart filled with guilt. What if one of them got killed? Could she stand to go on with the lives of four children on her conscience.She wasn't even in the mood for Sake. What should she do? She sighed in dismay and smacked her head against the desk. What had she done?

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(Somewhere in the land of fire.)A small girl, around ten, donned in a pink t-shirt and dark purple pants, skipped happily down a dirt path, her black shoulder-length hair bouncing with each step.As she progressed down the path, she noticed that there was someone lying on the road ahead. She bounced up and glanced at the man.He wasn't moving.She continued down the path, finding several more men lying on the ground, unmoving. She eventually came to a clearing, in which she saw an interesting sight.Sitting on a stump on the middle of a clearing, surrounded by several bodies, sharpening a large sword, was a boy.He was quite tall, and donning a black overcoat with a hood, the right side missing it's sleeve. Below a strange black shoulderplate, there were three small belts on his arm, one undone.He turned around, and glanced back. On seeing the girl, who strolled happily towards him, he went back to sharpening his sword."There seems to be more than usual." She said, rocking back and forward on her heels. "Do you think they're planning something?"The boy stopped what he was doing, nodding grimly."Well it's okay, I still have you, so I'll be okay." She said, hugging the cloaked figure, which made a wierd site. The small girl, colourful and innocent, and the cloaked figure, with the bloodstained sword."Will we have to move again?" She asked, looking at the teenage boy.He clipped up the undone belt on his right arm, and the sword disappeared. He nodded silently and began walking back down the path, with the small girl bouncing after him.The boy was thinking profusely. He glanced down at the girl beside him. She looked so happy. She was so oblivious as to what she was to be involved in.

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The three figures knew what was happening. Dusk had found out their plan.As the trio lay in wait, roughly ten metres from the genin, the could sense the dark presence of Dusk."Wolf, is this worth it?" The large figure whispered to the leader of the group. "Is it worth going through a clash with Dusk for these kids?""We need these kids alive, Bear." Said the female figure. "If we have to rip up some cultists, then so be it."The three could hear the conversation of the kids from their position clearly.A loud, blond boy was looking slightly pissed off at a guy with a head like a pineapple. "Oh shut up, you lazy bastard. Just cause you got a stick up your-" The blond stopped.They noticed each of the children stay stock still, listening.As they drew kunai, the three figures in the trees prepared for combat.The leader drew small cylinder, the large member drew a large mace, and the female member produced a pair of strange, metallic white gloves.They each looked at each other and nodded as they sensed the dark presence grow.The situation was about to get messed up beyond all reason.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the resurrection of my very first fic. In short, it sucked majorly. So I deleted it and retooled the plot and some other stuff, so now it's cool. Well, I've set up a tonne of the plot in this first chapter, and you may find that the last section is confuzzling. In due time, it will unfold. But apart from that, if you are a troll, flame to your hearts content, it just says I have more reviews and it backfires on you :P But if you are a normal person, I encourage your criticism, and I love to add in peoples input, it makes me feel like you guys are part of he story. So, read and review, tell your friends, hell, tell your grandma. See ya round.SS-60 SiX 


	2. Elimination and Collaboration

Hey guys, continuing from last week, I was busy on the weekend, so had no time to update. Just to clear things up, this one is based after Sasuke has left, but before the time skip. (During the 50 or so episodes of fillers there were in that period of time.) Anyways, i wont keep ya waiting.

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It happened quickly. Three people, in black masks and crimson cloaks burst from the bushes on their left, while three figures in black hoods appeared from the right.The leaf ninja were caught between two well-armed, dangerous looking groups.One of the reds flashes forwards, and produced a curved dagger from his cloak. He brought the blade down towards Shikamaru's face. He began to bring his kunai up to block. He wouldn't make it.The blade was halted inches away, as the figure was spear tackled by a large, black cloaked figure, and they began wrestling viciously on the dusty ground.Immediately, the remaining members of the two groups rushed at each other, meeting in open combat, while the leaf ninja were unsure."The black hoods don't seem to want to kill us." Shikamaru muttered. "We should help them."And with that notion, the leaf nin raced to help.Shikamaru darted to help the large man who had helped him, as to repay his debt. He quickly made a hand sign."Move!" He yeled to the large figure. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!"As the black shadow raced towards the scuffling pair, the large man leaped away, allowing Shikamaru to control the crimson cloaked figure.The black figure quickly got to his feet, and took a massive mace from his back.He glanced at Shikamaru. "Is it safe for me to whack 'im?" The huge man asked.Shikamaru nodded, keeping his concentration on the jutsu.The big man swung his huge weapon beside him a couple of times, then stepped forward, and brought the weapon smashing across the incapacitated ninja's face, just after Shikamaru released his control.What happened to the crimson figure was unbelievable.The head separated with the sound of snapping wood, and the figure tackled the large man to the ground and began wrestling again, this time, headless.

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Sakura and Hinata quickly raced to the aid of the female member, who was engaged in a ferocious duel with a crimson member.The hooded girl had a strange pair of metallic white gloves on, which had four long blades protruding from the knuckles.She danced around the masked member, who fended off her attacks with two curved knives.Once the girl noticed Sakura and Hinata, she quickly lashed out with her foot to the masked figure, who stumbled back toward them.They took their cue. Hinata lashed out with her hand, striking a chakra point at the top of the spine. Somehow, it didn't work.Sakura had more fortune. She focused chakra into her hand and hammered the masked man in the back, connecting with a sickening crunch. Several things broke with a snapping sound, and the figure flew forwards.Right on to the girl's claws. The girl reefed her claws up into it's torso, then twisted them.She glanced down, and noticed a black liquid spilling out of the wound onto her weapons.She quickly sucked in a gasp. "Manikins..."

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Naruto stood still in awe as the two remaining fighters clashed.The hooded character had a small cylinder, which sprung out into a large staff.The masked figure however, was in possesion of a crossbow, but did not appear to be using it, using his hands to fight.The two warriors flew at each other, firing vicious blows at each other, obviously trying to make every attack fatal.But it was not to last. The masked figure swung a devastating punch, knocking the hooded figure off of his feet and sending his staff flying.The two figures stood sock still, even Naruto not moving.It was then that the masked ninja pulled out the crossbow, pulled the bolt back and pointed it, point blank, at the hooded nin.Naruto thought quickly. Or rather, he didn't think at all. As the masked man was about to fire, Naruto sprung in front of him, shielding the hooded nin, wincing for the coming pain.It didn't come.Naruto opened his eyes, to see the hooded figure slumped in a heap."That was close," He breathed in relief."Thankyou. For that." The hooded nin breathed nervously."Anytime.""Wolf!" a female voice called. "They're manikins!"Another hooded person, a female, walked up to them, followed by Hinata and Sakura.The hooded figure, Wolf, got up and dusted himself. "Someone must have dispatched the puppeteer." He said."Puppeteer? Manikins? What are you on about!" Naruto demanded."Manikins are humans that are no longer... Human. I'll explain later, all you need to know is that unless you kill the puppeteer that controls them, they won't die." He said grimly, gesturing to the crumpled Manikin.Suddenly, Shikamaru and a very large man appeared at the scene."So somebody bumped off the puppeteer?" The massive man asked. "What a stroke of luck.""Well, let's not dwell on it." Wolf surmised. He turned towards the leaf nin. "You have to come with us.""Im not going anywhere until I get an explanation.!" Naruto said angrily."If we stay here any longer, you won't be alive to get one. Look, I know this may seem wierd and confusing, bit we have to leave for your safety.""Why should we follow you?" Sakura butted in."We're the reason you're here. Please, trust us." The female said."Fine." Shikamaru said, taking charge. "Lead the way," he said following after Wolf as he walked off.As they left, Hinata couldn't help but be curious about these manikins. Who was controlling them? And what happened to this puppeteer?

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Further away, a tall blonde boy stood over the unmoving body of a puppeteer, a small girl next to him.The blonde bent over and prised his knife from the body."He seemed to be concentrating hard. Do you reckon his manikins were fighting someone?" The girl asked naively.The boy cleaned the blood off the knife, and nodded."So they are on the move then." She said, deep in thought.The blond simply motioned for her to follow, then started off back towards the path. He was thinking himself. If they came after her, would he be able to protect her? Or would he fail again?He mentally slapped himself. He would die before he let anything happen to her. And it didn't matter how many of those bastards came, he would not let her get involved in anything dangerous.He glanced down at the girl, who was bounding happily beside him. How long could he protect her?

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They had been hiking through the sense forest for the better part of two hours, and Naruto was feeling the strain.They all were. After the fight, the group had been moving silently through the forestry, and nobody dared to break the silence.It was Sakura who was the first to speak."So what are your names?" She asked the hooded nin, curious."No names, it makes you get too attatched." Wolf said, hacking through a thick vine with a knife. "Everyone has their callsign, and we stick to it. As you know, I'm wolf." He said, gesturing to himself."Bear." The large man said."Cat. It's because of the claws." The female said, being the first to give an explanation."We've been informed to give you your callsigns as well. Blondie, you'll be known as fox." He said, gesturing to Naruto. "You three are Pineapple, Rose thorn, and Eagle." He said, pointing to Shikamaru, Sakura and Hinata respectively.Shikamaru clutched at his hair defensively. "Pineapple!""I dunno, I quite like mine." Naruto chimed in."Wrap it up, we're here." Wolf said. They found themselves standing in front of a concrete compound, which was built into the side of a large cave formation."Welcome," Wolf said, with slight pride. "To Dawn.".

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I know it isn't much, but I've got two papers due, so I'm rushing to get them done. Nonetheless, I hope you guys like the story, and note that it may seem confusing right now, but the mystery and plot will unfold soon. Review peeps!SS-60 SiX 


	3. The Dread of Unexplained Activities

I'll start, I won't make excuses. I haven't updated, im not going to use the pathetic 'writers block' routine, I just didn't write. Soz.

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The three leaf ninja sat quietly. Soon after arriving at the cave complex, they had been whisked through several hallways, and were now in a sort of meeting room.The floor was covered in a sparse white carpet, and Naruto likened it to the fur of some sort of dog.All four of them slouched in rigid steel chairs, except for Shikamaru. He was asleep in the corner.They were immediately startled by the door opening, and a short hooded figure walking in.He was definitely a member of Dawn, his hood showed that. Bit he looked to skinny, too wiry to be a fighter.He pulled a chair from the side and sat quickly in front of them, flipping out a small notepad."You are the leaf ninja, yes?" He said in a small voice. Everyone else nodded."You gonna tell us what we're doing here, egghead?" Shikamaru snapped, eyes still closed. He wasn't as asleep as he made out to be."Thats what I'm here for," He said, a little flustered by Shika's blunt words. "The name's Digit. I'm in charge of intelligence and information."Sakira leaned in. "So you can tell us why we're here?""Its a long story.""We've got alot of time."Digit sighed. "No, you don't. Nonetheless, I should start from the beginning. Listen up, Pineapple." The wiry boy said, gesturing for Shikamaru to wake up."Call me that again and I'll rip your digit off." The lazy nin said grumpily, climbing to his feet and plonking down into a chair."Okay, here we go."

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Twenty-three years ago, a fuedal lord went completely murderous. He abused his power, and turned everything on everyone to preserve himself.As you can imagine, this didn't fly well. So an ANBU from the hidden lead village, codenamed Seppuku, was sent out to eradicate him.Seppuku was successful, bit was immediately hunted for the murder of a fuedal lord by the other villages.So, he ran. Nobody ever saw or heard from him again.Incidentally, several ANBU agents went AWOL a week later, and reports of hooded figures, matching descriptions of these agents appeared.This group had started a chain of assassinations, but only corrupt members of people in power. Nobody knew who was running the show, but it was obvious; Seppuku wasn't dead.Even though none of the Kage's had a problem with this group, after all, they were knocking out people who abused their power, they had to act. The people were in an uproar. They demanded blood, payment for these assassinations.So, the numerous villages organized a special group, dedicated to eradicating the assassins.It was one of the greatest paradox's of all time; the 'criminals' were killing he corrupt to save the pure, while the' lawbringers' were defending the impure, and somehow this saved lives.Years passed, people forgot about the two factions. On the side of the 'lawbringers', time had changed rulesThey were no longer playin by them. They had completely disregarded their duty of protection, changing their objectives to hunting down the 'criminals', and ripping their faces off.Their opponents, on the other hand, had a much wierder challenge. They were seen as some of the most dangerous killers on earth, yet without them the other orginazation would no longer protect but destroy.They were forced into an unending struggle between the other faction, and everytime civilian lives were lost, it was always blamed on the 'criminals'.It seemed that those that had slit the throats of the most corrupt people in the world, had brought around a group that made the Akatsuki look like fucking girl scouts.But then it happened. The 'lawbringers', which changed the name of their orginazation to Dusk, had come across the most intriguing individual.This man had a Kekkei Genkai which was specially proficient for the use of dispatching members of Dawn.An incident had ocurred a year ago involving this jutsu, and it is because of it that the current problem has arised.

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The room was silent. "So you guys... Are terrorists?" Naruto asked cluelessly. In a way, you could say that. But we never killed an innocent. Only the corrupt. Our record was, and still is clean." Digit claimed firmly."You still haven't explained why we're here." Shikamaru said.Digit sighed heavily. "You'll become painfully aware of the full details soon. All ou need to know is that if we didn't have you, Dusk would. And that's not healthy." He finished, looking away from them.Suddenly, there was a distant rumble. The whole room trembled slightly, as the ground began to shake under them. The tremors rose, until they were thrown to the floor by the violence of the shakes.The door flew open and Bear was there, clinging to the doorframe with a white-knuckle grip. "DIGIT. IT'S HAPPENING!" He yelled, his voice barely rising above the roar of the quake.Digit clawed his way to the door, and scrambled to his feet next to the massive boy. "BUT THEY DONT HAVE THE FOX! WHY WOULD THEY USE HIM!"Naruto, who was laid flat out on the floor, looked over to Shikamaru, who was trying to prise himself off of the floor without falling over."EARTHQUAKE?" Naruto yelled questioningly.Shikamaru shook his head as much as he could, the quake shaking him like a bobblehead. "TOO SEVERE! JUTSU MAYBE?"Naruto looked at the girls, who were facedown on the ground, hands over their heads. What the hell was going on?Several agonizingly slow minutes later, the quake ceased, as suddenly as it had begun. Wolf, Cat and Bear strode through the door purposefully, and pulled the leaf nin to their feet."We gotta make tracks." Wolf said calmly, heading for the door."Im not going anywhere!" Sakura shouted, more than peeved. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"Wolf turned around, and spoke icily. "That was the start of the destruction of your village." He said, gloom dripping from his words.Naruto stepped up, cracking his knuckles. "Not if I have anything to say about it." He uttered angrily, rage starting to boil in his stomach.Lets get moving then." Wolf stated, and with that they left, to save Konoha.Shikamaru thought quietly to himself. [So we're off to Save Konoha. But from what?]

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They had gotten on the move pretty fast. They sprinted along the treetops of the lush green treetops.Wolf and Bear were with them, Cat was chasing up a backup option. Wolf flashed four hand signs, signalling to the other nin.>Five metre spread. No sound Hinata glanced over to Naruto. He had a steely look on his face, he obviously didn't like not knowing what was going on.Hinata noticed a lightning quick flash below her. She just had time to flick her eyes down, and process the masked figure flying at her, a knife poised to slash her torso open and spill her organs all over the forest in nasty ways.She flinched, expecting the searing pain.Before she knew, Naruto flashed into focus, smashing a foot across the Dusk members face, resulting in a sickening crack as he fell to the forest floor.Naruto flipped back up onto a branch and back into formation. He flashed Hinata a grin. She smiled back, about to thank him, when she heard a scream.She glanced back in time to see Sakura clutched around the ankle, dragging her below the canopy."Sakura!" She gasped."Shit!" Wolf cursed. "We've been compromised! Bear, get to the village, stop Yozaji at all costs. Another Dusk popped up in front of him, and he kindly sunk a kunai into his stomach."Where are you going?" Bear asked, smacking another member in the face."She's one of us now. We look after our own." Wolf said seriously as he jumped down under the canopy.Bear turned back to the squad, who were looking at him, awaiting instructions. "What are you staring at? Move!"They licked into gear, rocketing through the treetops, dodging Dusk cultists as they sprung up into the treetops.Naruto sped up as they grew closer to the village, fear deep in his gut. As he broke out of the forest, and dropped to the ground, he stood there, gobsmacked.There was a group of five people, Four in a square, the fifth in the middle. All were decked out in Dusk regalia, resplendant in a bloody crimson. Above them was a great ball of warping purple energy, and Naruto could feel heat prickling his skin. That wasn't what made him sick though.Where Konoha, his loved hometown used to be, there was barren earth, as if it had been ripped from the ground."No...Nononononono, this isn't happening, how have they done it this fast." Bear uttered fearfully, the colour drained from his face.Naruto raced forwards, but was held back. He turned around, and found Hinata, Byakugan activated."The one in the centre... that ball is his chakra... I'm sensing some sort of place inside there. Like... Some sort of portal." She said, confusedly."You can't go out there." Bear said. "The warp will rip you to pieces if you get within ten metres of it."The four of them stood there, watching helplessly, as the warp descended into the ground, boring a fifteen foot wide hole into the ground. A light emanated from the hole, growing in power, until it was blinding.They shielded their eyes, and once the light had receded, they looked at what as left.The figures were gone, even the few cultists that had been following them. In place of the hole that the warp left, a spinning vortex of thick pzurple liquid spun, sucking anything that got caught in it into the abyss."K-Konoha..." Naruto said vacantly. He couldn't believe it."It's... Gone."Bear stood up, deathly silent. "We have to return to Dawn." He said, emotionless."DID YOU EVEN SEE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!" Shikamaru spat angrily. "OUR VILLAGE IS GONE!""The only way to get your village back is through that vortex." Bear said, gesturing to the racing whirlpool. "And unless you really, REALLY wanna die, were going to have to go find Cat. She should have tracked down our other option by now."The rest of the nin were silent. Then, one by one, they stood and walked back the way they came. They didn't really have a choice, they had just become homeless.

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Wolf rolled as he landed, quickly scanning around. There, a flash of pink.He tore through the forestry, and found Sakura being held hostage-style, a knife against her throat. Sakura winked at wolf, then her eyes went strangely lifeless."Lie down on the ground, or ill slit this bitch's throat!" The cultist urged in a gravelly voice."Are you deaf? I said on the ground!" He spat, pressing down a little harder on Sakura's neck for emphasis.Wolf pulled out a small mettallic cylinder, his weapon, and presses a button. The cylinder sprung out to a length of one and a half metres, and a half meter blade popped out of the top end."One step and I'll kill her!" The cultist tried, fear rising in his gut. He wouldn't let his teammate die, would he?Wolf raised his spear and took a step forward.The cultist backed up to a tree, so he was protected from all sides. "You gonna have to go through the girl to get me." He smirked, sadistic pleasure on his face under his mask.Wolf raised his spear to belly button height. "Fine by me." He fling the spear forward powerfully, and it scythes straight through Sakura's stomach.She let out a scream, and coughed up blood, as her wound spilled the sickly red liquid onto her feet. The cultist behind her was suffering the same fate.After a minute of coughing and writhing, both the cultist and Sakura stopped moving.Dead.A figure leaped down from the trees and landed softly next to Wolf, as he prised the spear from the bodies, which slumped horribly to the floor."Funny." The figure said. "He didn't even notice.""Well, your'e on this team for skill, so it shouldn't be a problem." He said, his weapon retracting back into a cylinder as he stowed it.He turned back, and looked at the pink haired kunoichi. "He didn't even realize you had swapped with a shadow clone.""Gotta admit though, it was kinda wierd watching me die.""We should start heading back to the complex, or you may get to feel yourself die as well." Wold said, turning in the direction of the complex."And by the way, Rose Thorn?" He said, turning around slightly. "Good job."Sakura felt a surge of pride, and strode over next to wolf. She couldn't wait to get back and hear how the others went with saving Konoha.

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Ive been a total ass for not updating, I know. As some of you may know, my computer died a while back, so I am forced to type all of my stories up on my Ipod, and it's starting to get to me. Nonetheless, expect the next chapter alot sooner than this one took.ByesSS-60 SiX 


	4. Resurgance

NOTE: THIS CHAPTER WAS RECENTLY REWRITTEN. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT AFTER THE 18th OF JULY, PLEASE RE-READ.Look, you're all welcome to verbally curb stomp me for not updating, but I'm back on the sane-train and I'll be working on my stories again. Stuff happened. Now I'm back. Isn't that nice?

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Breathe. Can't. Breathe. Water. Coughing. Is that me? Tsunade snapped into consciousness, heaving water out of her lungs, and gulping in huge breaths. She was lying down, but she didn't know where. She could see the sun, that was always a good sign, but her eyes were stinging and her vision hazy.She filled her lungs with glorious oxygen, feeling her hair matted against her forehead, wet. Had she been swimming? Her head certainly was. She prized herself off the ground, her wet clothes weighing her down, and struggled to see her surroundings.She stifled a gasp. She was standing on a plane, barren dirt stretching out around her for a couple of miles. And sprawled out across the plane were the villagers of Konoha.She stumbled to the nearest villager, a small boy, and dropped by his sides, searching for a pulse.She let out a sigh of relief. They weren't dead. But something was keeping them in some sort of coma. The boy's heartbeat was there, but sort of... transparent? She couldn't tell.She let some chakra leech out of her hands into the boy, trying to diagnose the problem. She could sense something gripping his mind, some powerful force. Genjutsu?She heard dirt crunching underfoot behind her. She slowly turned around meeting the gaze of a man.He was really tall bordering six foot five, and was completely bald. He didn't even have eyebrows. He had a lean, skinny face, and his eyes were sunken. He was wearing a red and black robe, and a discarded mask was hanging around his neck, recently removed. A thin sword hung from his hip."Well..." He crooned, with a sickly grin. "Looks like one of the mice escaped the trap."Tsunade wanted to yell at him, to call him a sick bastard, walk over there and send a chakra-charged fist through his head. But she couldn't move. She couldn't even peel her eyes away from this man. She managaed to blink, and in the split second she closed her eyes, the man was inches away from her. She felt a stabbing pain grow in her gut."A fate fitting of one who talks politics. The only screams of your death echo only in your head." He whispered grimly.And with that he pulled the sword from his scabard, and drove it into Tsunade's gut.Tsunade tries to scream from pain as the felt the blade split pierced through her torso, bursting through her back. But she couldn't make a sound, all the while she felt tendrils of cold worming from the wound, making her numb.As Tsunade felt consciousness fading away, she tried desperately to move, to somehow fight against him.But there was nothing she could do. Before she completely blacked out, she realized with horror, that in her own death, she was a prisoner of her own mind.

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Wolf walked next to Sakura, studying the pink haired, girl through the corner of his eye. There was something he liked about this girl, but he couldn't put his finger on it. After the fight with the Dawn cultist, she had proven herself, and now Wolf knew she was worth bringing along.Sakura looked back up at Wolf and smiled. Of course, even if he was smiling, she couldn't see it past his hood.The trip back to Dusk HQ was fairly silent, until they were interrupted by a worried yell. "Sakura!"Said girl turned her head to the source of the voice, down the track, where a very gloomy blonde stood."Naruto? What's wrong?" She asked as she drew near."Sakura... You better come back to the caves... We've got some bad news." The jinchuriki answered, turning away and trudging down the path.Sakura looked worriedly at Wolf, before running down the path after Naruto.Bear ran past her in the other direction, stopping in front of Wolf."Konohams gone, we didn't get there fast enough." He reported."SHIT!" Wolf yelled, punching a tree next to him a leaving a decent sized hole in it. "How'd they manage to do it so fast!""I don't know! Digit reckons they must have a way to accelerate the process. But that's not the worst news.""Oh, Come on Bear, what could possibly be worse than this?" Wolf asked, irritated."Cat's gone missing.""Well... fuck."

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The small girl stopped in her tracks, the tall figure next to her halting alongside. The figure looked down at her questioningly."We have a visitor." She said calmly.Her bodygaurd gave a quick nod, then vanished. Cat sucked in a breath nervously. She was in a tree several metres away, and had been surveying these people for a while.She had recieved news that their 'backup plan' was in a village close by. Soon after leaving the cave complex, she had encountered a large amount of Dawn cultist bodies, and off in the distance she spotted these two, headed toward Konoha. She had been fairly lucky, and until now she hadn't been spotted.Something rustled behind her, and she stopped dead. She swallowed heavily, flexing her hands.She whipped around, about to swing a fist into the figure behind her. When she turned, she saw a hood, and could just faintly see a face beyond that. She swore she knew that face. She hesitated. Immediately she was met with a swift kick to the stomach, and she rocketed out of the tree, the breath smashed out of her.She smacked against the sandy ground hard, gasping for breath, trying desperately to fill her lungs with oxygen.She stared up at the sky, and two shadows were looking down at her."I don't think she's with those other guys. Maybe she needs help." The female voice crouched down closer. "Where do you live?""Three kilometres up this road.. -cough- Caves... Please, we need he- Ungghhhh." Cat choked out, her stomach aching. Her vision began to haze due to lack of oxygen, and she could feel herself beggining to faint.Her attacker visibly tensed. He dropped to a crouch, placing his arms under her torso and knees, and hoisted her up. She wriggled slightly, she didn't need any help from this bastard, she could walk.Another wave of pain changed her mind.Then he spoke, with a smooth, mischievous, yet obviously male, voice."Dusk. Hmph."If Cat had any energy at all, she would have probably asked him how the he'll he knew what she was. She blacked out.

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By the time Sakura had reached The Dusk complex, she was practically sprinting. She thundered through the entrance tunnel, and propelled herself through the door to the conference room.

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She stopped, breathing heavily, Looking around. Naruto was sitting in the corner, looking at her with dread. Hinata was sitting up against a wall, hair over her face. She had been crying. Even Shikamaru looked worse, sleeping in a position that seemed about as sad as sleeping can be."What's going on? What happened?"Sakura asked hesitantly. Naruto sat up and looked straight into her eyes."Konoha's gone."Those words echoed in Sakura's brain, as if she was trying to register what it meant. Gone? How could it be gone? She began feeling dizzy, and stumbled to a wall, holding a hand out to steady herself.What about her family? What about the rest of her friends? Sakura, for the first time in a long time, cried. Shinobi were never to show emotion. Right now, she didn't care.Naruto stared at Sakura, who was choking out sobs. He struggled to keep his own grief on a leash, and having Sakura breaking down in front of him.She needed some time to cope with the news. He noticed Hinata had been abnormally quiet, she hadn't said a single word since they had been at Konoha, and he was worried. He walked over next to the Hyuuga, and sat himself down."Hinata? How are you holding up?" He asked, hoping she was okay. She hadn't said a single word since they had returned.Hinata looked up at Naruo slowly, her eyes red rimmed and teary. God, she looked terrible. Naruto looked into her eyes, at all the sadness and pain she was experiencing.Naruto couldn't know what she was going through. Her whole family had been in Konoha. Naruto had never even had one of those.Naruto put his arms around Hinata and pulled her tightly into a hug. It was a feeble attempt at comfort, but it was the best he could manage. Hinata put her own arms around the blonde hesitantly, and cried into his shoulder.Naruto didn't know how long they sat there for. Five mintutes? Ten? An hour? But it would have gone on a lot longer were they not interrupted by Wolf and Bear knocking on the door."I've got news. Konoha's not completely lost yet."As soon as he said that, all eyes were on him. Wolf looked at their expressions, and could feel their stares boring through him.They were only kids, but right now they would have thrown themselves in front of a train to help their village.He walked into the middle of the bone white room, and sat down, the Leaf ninja moving in towards him, including Shikamaru who had recently woken up from his grief-nap."Is this gonna be another really long explanation speech? Cause the readers are gonna get annoyed with it." Naruto said, breaking the fourth wall."Fox, the author warned you about this, now shut up, you're supposed to be grieving. Also this is a fairly plot heavy story, but this should be the last lengthy explanation." Said Wolf, pleasing the Author."Basically, Dawn has taken your village, but we don't know why. This isn't the first time this has happened, but this time their motivation is an absolute mystery.""Wait, so you've gone throught this before? So you can easily get our village back." Said Sakura hopefully."Not exactly. Last time..." He choked up hesitantly, before continuing. "We failed miserably. The village, and all of it's residents were lost. We barely escaped with our lives. But it won't happen this time." he finished determinedly."Okay. So what's the plan then?" Naruto said, back to business. No point grieving over something that wasn't lost, he thought.Bear shuffled into the discussion. "The way you're village was taken, is through a Kekkei Genkai. It's comes from a family that speciases in seals, and they developed the ability to seal massive object inside actual people. In this case, it was a village.""What!" Naruto spat in disbelief. "Our village is sealed away inside a creepy old guy!""Correct." Wolf answered. "But the man who sealed your village has mutated his ability somehow. His name is Yozaji Suziya. His ability drew the eye of Dawn, for if Dusk agents were hiding out somewhere, Yozaji could seal the whole area inside him, and then they could release them in an open area and rip them to shreds.""So what's the mutation?" Hinata asked, with an inquisitive look.Digit , who had slipped through one of the doors during the conversation, answered in a pippy voice. "Yozaji is the only one in his family who has the genetic material to seal off something as large as a village, but when he has something sealed inside of him, it has to borrow his life force to keep it inside him, so while a village is inside him, he gains the body of a ninety year old."Wolf quickly followed on. "This would obviously be a problem, as it makes him an easy target in this state, and he cannot travel to a secure place quickly, so he has mutated the kekkai genkai to combine with the vortex transportation jutsu. Basically, big hole appears in ground, bad guys jump down hole, hole fills with vorpal water, stops angry people with sharp things chasing them."Shikamaru saw the obvious flaw in their plan so far. "How are we supposed to get through the vortex? We can't exactly breathe underwater.""Its quite simple." Digit replied. "The trap is rigged so Yozaji can get through safely, as of his kekkai genkai, right? Anyone else gets sucked into the vortex, nasty end. So, we find someone with the same kekkai genkai, and we're through.""Wait, so we gotta find a relative of Yozaji to get through the trap?" Sakura asked."Its the only way through the vortex. That's why we sent Cat out. Yozaji had two sisters, but one of them died in the previous incident. All that's left is the youngest.""Thing is, Cat's gone misiing, so now we're stuck up a creek without a paddle." Wolf growled angrily."Are you sure we can trust the sister of this sick freak?" Naruto asked.Someone coughed at the door, making everyone look toward the entrance. Seven jaws dropped simultaneously.Standing at the door was a small girl and a large hooded figure, who was holding the slumped body of Cat."My big brother may be a sick freak, but don't judge me because of it." Wolf stared at the hooded figure. He swore he knew him.Said person stepped forward and lowered Cat. "Sorry." he said in a smooth, calm, quiet voice.The girl stepped forward, held out her hand and introduced her self, speaking in a polite voice. "The girl tried to sneak up on us, but it didn't work. Yuki Suziya. If I heard correctly, you're in need of Yozaji's last sister. I know where she is."Wolf stood and shook her hand. "Im Wolf, we work for Dusk. Look, we need you to get us to her.""Why should I?" She asked curiously."BECAUSE HE JUST DESTROYED MY VILLAGE!" Naruto yelled, frustrated that the onto person who could help them might not.The girl visibly tensed. "This is serious then. Okay, you want Yozaji's sister? I'm here. Sorry, I didn't know he had done something like this again."Again? Naruto silently locked this away in his head, thinking it may come in handy later.In that case, welcome aboard miss Yuki. May I ask who your friend is?" Gesturing to the tall hooded bodyguard."I call him Guard." The small girl replied. "He doesn't speak much.He gave a curt nod, and everyone in the room was uneasy about his presence."I dont know about he rest of you, but im wrecked, and I honestly can't handle any more surprises today. I'm calling it a night." Bear announced. "Yuki, Guard, you can sleep in the quarters if you want." He said, sweeping up Cat and taking her through a side door, into the main complex of the cave system. The rest of them realized that they were absolutely buggered, so they followed suit.When Naruto had finally laid down on his bed, all the events that had happened in the previous forty-eight hours rushed through his head.He looked around at all the people surrounding him and sighed. This small group of ninja was the only thing that could save Konoha. No pressure. He didn't think he would be able to sleep, but he fell into a deep slumber soon enough.

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Im back in the game :D Anyways, I hate the summary at the moment, it does the story no jusice, and since I'm too lazy to get a beta reader, if you guys can, can you write a summay for me and post it in a review? Thanks. And, usual practice, ANY ideas for the story, message me and I will see if I can slot them in. (Story, ideas, Characters: If you message me with an OC, I'll contemplate fitting it in if I have space) Remember: Every time you read one of my stories and don't review, a puppy is punted into a woodchipper. Please, think of the puppies.P.S. I also slapped in some NaruHina in this chap, not much, u it's still there.Peace out.SS60 SiX 


	5. Breakfast and A Swim

NOTE: THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER WAS RECENTLY REWRITTEN. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT AFTER THE 18th OF JULY, PLEASE RE-READ IT.

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Naruto awoke to a familiar smell.Food.His mouth started to water as he lay in his bed, thinking about his top 50 favourite ramen flavours.About that time time his stomach roared loud enough to scare the local fauna into hiding, and Naruto remembered that the most important step in the process of eating, was actually EATING.He practically leaped off of the bed, and stalked down the hallway. He followed the intoxicating aroma down the web of hallways, finally finding the source of the smell. He peeked around the corner, and his eyes grew to the size of saucers.He had stumbled upon the mess hall, and was now gazing upon a table with nine places, each plate topped with generous helpings of bacon and eggs. (Author Note: Bacon and eggs may not be exactly Japanese, but come on, it is insanely delicious.)Naruto's eyes sparkled, and he started drooling. Was this a dream? Naruto thought to pinch himself, but thought that wouldn't be enough, so he gave himself a punch in the face.After picking himself off of the ground and reminding himself punching oneself was not always an intelligent idea, he proceeded to skip happily into the room, and pulled out a chair, not even for one second wondering where the food came from.He sat down and started wolfing down the food on one of the plates.Nearly as good as a decent ramen. Nearly.About five minutes into the meal, everyone else trudged into the room, wiping the sleep out of their eyes, then staring wide eyed at the food.Most of them pinched themselves except for Shikamaru, who had been spending too much time with Naruto and, subsequently, punched himself.The only person who didn't look phased was the small girl, Yuki. She calmly sat down and ate with the rest of the group.For the first time, Naruto got a decent look at her. She was quite short, and had bright blond hair, cut short to around her neck, which contrasted well with her brown eyes. She was wearing a black shirt with a black outline stripe, and a pair black pants, also with pink outline. She was wearing a strange pair of boots, with an odd attatchment on the back of them.After about ten minutes of munching, Shikamaru leant back in his chair and patted his stomach. "This is great, you make this Naruto?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief."No, it was just here this morning." Naruto muffled with a mouthful.Everyone sopped and stared at the food with fear all of a sudden. They were ninja, poisened food wouldn't exactly be an unusual occurance."Guard cooks."Yuki answered, settling their worries. "He's good at it too."An image of Guard in a pink apron with a spatula popped into Naruto's head, and he snickered to himself."Speaking of which," Sakura said, looking around. "Where is he? Doesn't he eat?""I know him better than anyone else." Yuki replied. "And he's still a mystery to me.""Well, You might as well tell us what you were doing out here." Digit asked. "You couldn't have been just, 'passing by'.""Actually," Yuki said, sheepishly. "Guard and me were going to Konoha..."Sakura furrowed her brow questioningly. "Why would you guys come to Konoha?""Awhile ago we started getting jumped by those Dusk guys, and Guard said it wasn't safe for me to travel with him anymore." She looked a bit glum at this fact."So he decided he would send me to the Hidden Leaf village, to get trained as a ninja.""That ain't so bad." Naruto claimed with a cheesy grin. "Once we get Konoha back, I'm sure the Hokage'll take you in.""You think so?""I know so"While all this was going on, Hinata, who had been quietly nibbling at her food, couldn't help but notice that Cat, who was seated next to her, looked frustrated, and a bit queasy."Cat? Are you feeling alright? You look a bit ill." Hinata asked, with worry.Cat looked up at Hinata, and she could just make out the faint outline of a face past the hood."Oh, I'm fine, I just swear I know Guard from somewhere.""Maybe you just got a nasty bump on the head or something." Hinata replied with a comforting smile."Maybe." Cat said, sounding distant. [I hope you are right Hinata. If it was him... Wolf wouldn't handle it...]The breakfast was immediately broken by Guard entering the room.All eyes were on him. Naruto also noticed Guard for the first time. He was tall, about six foot, and was wearing a black, hooded, knee-length overcoat. The right sleeve had a zip around the shoulder, which intigued Naruto to no end. He was wearing the same boots as Yuki, if muh larger."We should head out soon." He uttered.It was like he flicked a switch. They all remembered why they were here, and stood up, going off to prepare for what would be the wierdest rescue mission of all time.

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"Well, this isn't exactly how I pictured my Sunday going." Shikamaru announced, gazing upon the frothing whirlpool. They were now standing upon the spot where Konoha used to stand, and looking at the 'vortex' Before leaving, Bear had made sure that the four leaf genin recieved Dawn cloaks, but none of them had put he hoods up.."So... how does this work?" Naruto asked."As long as you guys are within about ten metres of me, you should pop out the other side. We should only be under for about half a minute before the jutsu kicks in." Yuki explained."And if it doesn't?" Wolf questioned."Then you die." Guard said, earning a chorus of nervous swallows from everyone."Everyone, link arms." Bear ordered. They all grabbed the person next to them by the forearm, and lined up by the edge, Cat on the end, then Yuki, who was of course with Guard, then Bear, Wolf, Sakura, Shikamaru, Dexter, Naruto and Hinata on the other end.Wolf breathed out deeply. "Ready?""Ready." Came the reply."Three..."Everyone breathed deeply, digit was muttering to himself, praying by the sound of it. Hinata squeezed Naruto's hand, and he gave her a wink."Two.""If I die, it's gonna totally ruin my day.." Shikamaru muttered."One"They all took a leap forward, and plunged into the dark water, and were sucked down.Naruto opened his eyes, looking around. Everyone had their eyes closed, clinging tightly. He saw bubbles shoot past at insane speeds, and nearly punched himself again. This was so surreal.As they descended further, Naruto could feel suction pulling them outward. And he could feel Hinata's grip loosening. His eyes shot open, and he saw with horror that Hinata was losing consciousness, she hadn't taken a deep enough breath before they jumped in.Naruto tried desperately to grip at her forearm, but they started to accellerate rapidly downwards, pulling her further away.Naruto clung desperately, feelig his lungs burning as he too begun to run out of breath. [Hang in there Hinata. Please...]Then the chain broke.Naruto realized that they had failed.Just as Naruto's vision began to haze, and he swallowed a mouthful of the black water by accident, he felt the water fall upwards and away from him, and suddenly the gravity changed.He realized they were out of the water, and they smacked down onto the rough ground.He got up on his knees, and coughed up what felt like a litre of the foul water. As he sucked in del breaths, he opened his eyes. He saw Hinata.She wasn't moving.Naruto stumbled over towards her, and fell down beside her.He felt for a pulse, it was faint, and he couldn't hear her breathing."Shitshitshitshit.. Stay with me Hinata..." Naruto said. He places two hands across her chest and pushed down repeatedly.It wasn't working. Naruto put his head down, closed her nose, placed his mouth over hers, and breathed out as hard as he could.Hinata coughed, and naruto pulled her to her knees, and she coughed up alot of water.Naruto panted heavily, as Hinata began breathing again."Don't -huff- ever do that -huff-again." He said with a grin, pulling her into a hug.Hinata didn't reply, just blushed a deep shade of red, and returned the hug.After they had recovered enough to stand, they surveyed their surroundings.By the looks of it, they were in some sort of forest, but it didn't seem right. There was no sound of any birds whatsoever, and the trees didn't even rustle."What happened?" Hinata finally managed, recovering from her embarrassment."Something went horribly wrong," Naruto answered, looking around. "Where the hell is everyone else? More importantly, where the hell are we?"

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Sakura pulled herself off the ground,thoroughly soaked.She looked around, and saw bear, who was lying down, sucking in deep breaths, Shikamaru, who was pulling his hair off of his face, unamused, and Wolf, who was sitting up, his hood matted down on his head, dazed. They were on the edge of a line of trees, and in other direction was a barren plain."Hey, good news," Shikamaru announced. "We're alive.""Wolf chuckled. "That we are Pineapple, that we are...""What happened to everyone else? Where's Naruto? Where's Hinata?" She asked worriedly. Had they not made it out?You were between me and Shikamaru, so you didn't know," Wolf answered."The chain broke, that Hinata girl nearly started to drown, and he lost his grip on me trying to get a better hold on her. I saw Yuki simply lost her grip on guard, so she and got swept away, and Guard just let go of Bear to go after her.""So, they just got sucked into the vortex?Shikamaru asked in disbelief."No," Bear said propping himself up on his elbows. Otherwise we'd be dead. They probably got deposited somewhere else in this god forsaken place.""And where is this place exactly?" Shikamaru asked, wringing out his hair."Not a clue. Wherever it is though, Yozaji is no doubt near by."

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As soon as Cat broke free of the water, she felt someone grab her and slam her into the ground. She opened her eyes, clutching her stomach, and saw a Dusk Acolyte holding a knife to Yuki's throat.Facing him was a VERY pissed off Guard."Let her go. Or die." He growled menacingly.The acolytle giggled maniacally. "Boss-man sez nab the lil' girl, dead or alive, so the way I sees it, Ive got the leverage here." He said, smiling cruelly.Guard stopped in his tracks. He looked down at Yuki, who was putting on a brave face, even though she was crying."Its okay Guard, you tried." She said, sniffling."I'll find you. I won't fail again."The acolyte cackled again. Bit late for that Innit?" He used a shunshin, and disappeared.Cat looked around and realized they were in some sort of canyon, the walls stretching up for about fifty or so metres.Guard turned to the left, screamed in anger and punched the canyon wall. His fist cracked the whole area, some of the cracks worming their way up higher.He was breathing in and out through clenched teeth, seething "They knew we were coming. They were waiting for us. If the others hadn't dropped off of the chain, they would've ended up here too." He said angrily, his fury was palpable.Cat noticed that this was the most he had spoken since she had known him. "So, what's the plan then?" She asked him.He reaches into his coat and pulled out two kunai. "Im going to get Yuki back." He jumped up, dug the kunai into the cliff wall, and began climbing the wall using the kunai. He looked back. "Well? You coming?"Cat fed chakra into her gloves, and four claws scythed out. She jumped up and dug them in, right next to Guard. "Right behind you."

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Well, it appears that my story has lost most of it's fans. I dunno why, but it's making me very sad, as you can imagine. So if you honestly do like the fic, then please give me a review coz I really don't know if you guys like this, or if you think the story sucks. Anyways, I'll get to work on next chappie soon, but I'm working on a NaruHina fluff Oneshot, so it might be a couple of days.Review pplzSS-60 SiX 


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